The city’s Wastewater Advisory Committee voted unanimously last Thursday not to support a proposed ban on waste transfers on city streets due to cost considerations, and instead embarked on a plan to combat odors from septic waste.
The adopted measure, proposed by panel member Barbara Bradley, includes odor mitigation requirements, a study to determine the best times and locations for transfers, and the eventual use of a transfer facility that would be located on the site of the city’s future waste treatment system.
The committee elected not to support a draft ordinance that had been prepared by the City Attorney and the Environmental Sustainability staff. The measure would have prohibited the transfer of septage (septic tank waste) from one pumping truck to another in the public right-of-way.
The issue arose recently after the City Council received complaints from the public about odor and visual blight from pumping trucks parked on public streets during waste transfers. The waste is pumped into small trucks and transferred to larger vehicles, which transport it to remote dumping sites outside the city. The City Council had referred the matter to the Wastewater Advisory Committee for evaluation.
Before the vote last week, panel member Andrew Shelton reported on the results of the group’s investigation. He said the committee followed up on a recommendation from members of the community that transfers be done at the Tapia waste treatment facility in Malibu Canyon. However, he said, Tapia management “was not encouraging” about that as a current option, although they allowed that it may be possible in the future.
“I think the problem with Tapia is political, not that it can’t be done,” said Richard Sherman, the panel’s vice chair. “Someone needs to go to the County of Los Angeles and put pressure on Tapia. I think that’s the solution.”
Another option examined, said Shelton, was to enact zoning codes to allow waste transfers on private property that the city would lease for such use. While several committee members agreed that it could be a potential solution, the consensus was that there may be no “politically acceptable” location.
“The million dollar question is: What would be a suitable area for the transfers?” asked committee member Steve Braband at the meeting, adding that no one is likely to want it done near his home.
Sherman said he agrees with Braband. “I don’t know where you politically find an acceptable place to do this. We don’t have an industrial zone,” he said. He noted, however, that pumping trucks “are a part of the city’s infrastructure, a necessary evil.”
Among public locations suggested for the transfers were areas near the baseball fields on Malibu Canyon or a location on Pacific Coast Highway next to Legacy Park. Possible private property leases suggested for consideration included Winter Canyon or the tow yard on Malibu Road.
Shelton underscored that the wastewater advisory committee “remains very concerned there could be a de facto prohibition on this activity. At the end of the day, finding a property that’s willing to participate without the neighbors trying to prevent it is going to be difficult. Then we’re going to end up without a place to do it.”
Should that occur, pumping costs for individual homeowners would increase. One of the attendees at the meeting was Ely Simental Jr., whose company, Ely Jr.’s Pumping & Septic System Installations of Oxnard, services much of Malibu. Simental has strongly opposed any ordinance that would restrict where his trucks could transfer their waste.
When asked for an estimate, Simental said the additional cost per household would “probably be about $160 more per truckload.”
Committee chair Norm Haynie said he believes transfers can continue with certain modifications, such as implementing appropriate time, place and odor standards for waste transfer.
“We need to find a place far away from homes and do it at times when people aren’t [nearby] working in offices or going to the market,” said Haynie, adding that carbon filters, which mitigate odors, should be required on pumping trucks. “Seeing it [being done] is one thing; smelling it is not acceptable,” he said.
Transfers of commercial waste in Malibu are performed during non-business hours overnight and are completed between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., said Simental, who attended the meeting with other company representatives. Simental told the committee he is willing to install carbon filters on his trucks to help mitigate odors.
The committee noted that there is a required registration program for waste transfers in the city and that there have been no documented spills.